The petition, started on Dec. 28 on a government website, surpassed the required 25,000 signatures shortly after 3 p.m. Friday.

It seeks the recognition for Webster Police Lt. Michael Chiapperini, Tomasz Kaczowka, Joseph Hofstetter and Theodore Scardino, the volunteer firefighters who were shot while answering a call for assistance Dec. 24.

Chiapperini and Kaczowka were killed. Hofstetter and Scardino were injured in the shooting.

The Medal of Freedom is the "nation's highest civilian honor to individuals who made especially meritorious contributions to security or national interests of the United States, to world peace, or to cultural or other significant public or private endeavors."